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Eurovision Semi-Final 1: Who Didn’t Get Through

Eurovision started with a bang, ten acts are through to this weekend’s final, but who missed out?

Finland’s Sandhja – “Sing It Away”

A catchy number that failed to impress on the stage. The vocals weren’t as on point as I expected and there was nothing that stood out during the performance.

Greece’s Argo – “Utopian Land”

A lacklustre performance, definitely energetic to say the least, but no wow moment at all. The Greek rapping spoiled the incredible chorus that was definitely a grower.

Moldova’s Lidia Isac – “Falling Stars”

Astronauts have never grazed the stage of the Grand Final, look at Montenegro’s 2013 entrant Who See, who actually dressed up as astronauts for their amazing song “Igranka”, which failed to qualify. Astronauts are a no-go, yet Moldova went there and didn’t get through. A great vocal, with a pretty average Eurovision song. This would have been perfect for the Grand Final. If it weren’t for the astronaut dancer, maybe Lidia Isac wouldn’t have fallen like a star.

San Marino’s Serhat – “I Didn’t Know”

We’ve all gone back in time, classic Eurovision has appeared. Channelling his inner Hugh Hefner, Serhat sings whilst voluptuous girls dance around him. Proving classic Eurovision is no longer a thing, San Marino fails to qualify for the Grand Final, their sixth time out of seven. San Marino needs to enter something better if they want to qualify.

Estonia’s Jüri Pootsmann – “Play”

Cute guy in a shocking blue suit with a very deep voice, prepared to trick us all with his card games. No stage presence, he lacked charisma, Jüri Pootsmann failed to interest us enough to put him through. Card tricks on Eurovision, now I’ve seen it all.

Montenegro’s Highway – “The Real Thing”

Alternative rock band had stiff competition against Cyprus’ entrant Minus One with “Alter Ego”, turns out the better rock song won. This droning of a song is an apparent grower, but with Eurovision you have only one shot to get it right, this is not a competition for growers.

Iceland’s Greta Salóme – “Hear Them Calling”

One of the fan’s favourites didn’t go through, there’s always one from each semi-final that is expected to go through and doesn’t. Unfortunately, Greta Salóme didn’t pull her performance off perfectly. Either the camera angles went wrong or the staging went wrong. The shadows were completely messy, and it distracted Greta Salóme’s vocals. Great song, great idea, too similar to last year’s winner, should’ve made it through but didn’t. This goes to show why voting for your favourite is so important.

Strong vocalists, amazing violinist, average rapper. What went wrong with this? Singing in Bosnian probably wasn’t the best idea. A strong song, and amazing vocals from both Dalal & Deen, this totally worked well. Jala let the whole thing down with his rapping. If you’re going to rap in the Eurovision Song Contest, do it in English, or not at all. Staging was chaotic, too much going on. Dalal & Deen alone would’ve guaranteed a spot in the Grand Final, but the featured performers let the whole thing down.